


Masquerade

by ironwidow



Series: Addicted [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, tony x natasha - Relationship - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22512544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironwidow/pseuds/ironwidow
Summary: Natasha and Tony are secretly dating. After Natasha goes rogue and disappears, Tony manages to track her down and throws a Masquerade Ball, where they reunite.
Relationships: Ironwidow, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark
Series: Addicted [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/41170
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> Friends! :)
> 
> After a loooong time, here is my expected return to writing ironwidow fics.  
> This idea came to me while I was listening to the song Davy Jones by Hans Zimmer (from Pirates of the Caribbean OST. Go listen to it right now!!)
> 
> So I wrote it. And now, here it is!
> 
> Originally posted on: https://ironwidow.tumblr.com/post/190589515186/masquerade
> 
> My Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/ironwidow (if you want to donate to keep good creations coming!)

Tony and Natasha have always been the strangest of people. Maybe that is why no one ever questions anything they do, or where they go – which makes it way too easy for them to sneak out, at any time, and actually start dating without anyone ever noticing.

They don’t know how any of it happened. It was the little things, at first. How she looked at him. How he would talk to her. In the beginning they would tease each other, and then they realized it wasn’t just teasing. They actually wanted each other’s company, craved to be closer. In the beginning, it was just great sex. After a while, it was more than that (for both of them).

Needless to say, when Natasha went rogue and disappeared from their map, Tony was the angriest of them all. He could not imagine that she would leave him in this lifetime without a warning. Without taking him with her. 

They search for her. Weeks, months. And when they are about to lose all hope, there is something. A gun’s dealer is tortured almost to death somewhere in Texas. None of it matches Natasha’s MO but Tony feels, right in his gut, that it is her.

So, he makes good use of his money and throws a masquerade ball. Invites the poor bastard who was tortured – somehow makes everyone believe that this criminal was the one throwing the party, to celebrate his near-death experience. Tony wants to piss Natasha off – so much, to the point where she will actually show up to this stupid party just to terrify the man again.

When he arrives, the whole room feels alive. Tony looks for Natasha but doesn’t immediately see her. She wouldn’t be standing right there, anyway. If she was there, she would be hiding, even if it was in plain sight. He decides to grab a glass of champagne and drink it all in one go. If they’re gonna do this, he needs an extra shot of courage. Maybe invite someone to dance and set this mind away from her. Except, that’s the only thing he can’t do. He will always think about her.

Eventually, Tony holds out his hand to the most elegant woman in the room. Her black hair cascades down her back in soft curls, and, from the nose up, her face is covered in a black mask, with slight hints of red, and feathers just as soft as her hair. She takes his hand with a smile. Full, red lips. And he smiles, too, knowingly.

From her body, falls a long dress. Off the shoulder, metallic silver, a darker tone next to her to her chest that becomes lighter as it goes down her body. The neckline goes down in a V shape, and stops just below her navel, where the dress opens into a bouffant skirt. A piece that only a confident woman could wear, certainly. And if Tony Stark wasn’t an actual billionaire, maybe he would think she was just wearing an extravagant, beautiful dress. However, he is absolutely certain she is wearing the most expensive piece in the entire room.

The song starts off slowly, close to the sound that comes out of a music box - one of those that have a ballerina, that goes on dancing and dancing until someone gets tired of looking at it. Tony holds the woman in a tight embrace, and he leads her, and she doesn’t hold back, lets him hold her how we chooses. Almost complacent. 

“A nice party.” Tony says. “Nicer now, with such a beautiful woman.” She smiles again but doesn’t blush and barely even changes her expression. Unfazed.

“A beautiful party, I would say,“ she slurs in a brief Italian accent. “Made better by handsome men, of course.” Tony laughs, and his laughter is honest.

The song continues slow, but somewhere in between tension grows and it catches on to more aggressive notes. Tony grabs the woman a bit tighter as the song becomes more enraged. An almost perfect reflection of him, in this moment. She remains untouchable, unreadable.

“Italian is not the right accent for you. Maybe something more eastern?”, he says, still smiling, as if he had said something completely different. For just a second, he could swear he saw her expression change, confusion and shock, and then back to normal. But, somehow, she looks and feels lighter now.

“Too close to home,” she says, back to her American accent. Her voice sounds like honey to Tony’s ears. How long has it been since he heard this sound?

“Did you really think, in a room full of people, that I wouldn’t find you?” she holds him tighter, smiles, and that’s when he realizes he could never win against her. Natasha has him where she wants, and how she wants. Such a feral creature.

“I’m not hiding.”, slowly, her forehead leans against his, and Tony sighs, quietly, as he resists the urge to immediately pull her into a kiss. He isn’t about to blow her cover - not yet.

“Your hair is strangely black for someone who isn’t hiding.” 

“I’m not hiding from you.”

Tony pulls back from her and stares into her eyes for what it seems like an eternity. Something - there has to be something in those eyes that tells him she misses him, the nights spent in bed or spent lazily watching stupid movies. All the dinners, the breakfasts and the jokes. He finds nothing. But that’s the thing - Natasha was trained, for years, to hide emotions. She feels, maybe feels more than anyone else. But it is a part of her to never show it.

“They are watching us.”, and she knows exactly who he is talking about.

“I know. And when this dance is over, I know you’re gonna let me go and you’re never gonna tell them it was me. Because you love me.

“I wish I didn’t, Natasha.” Slender fingers move up his arms and slowly touch her face. Oh, she does miss this.

“No, you don’t.”, she says. “I love you too, Tony Stark. And that’s all we have now. That’s why I don’t hide from you. I don’t need to.”

Somehow, during the dance, the song became more aggressive than ever and they are now spinning in the ballroom with heavy breaths. The song abruptly stops and goes back to the tiny, high notes. Slow. Natasha takes a bow and when she is back to Tony’s eye level, he swears he almost sees a tear.

“I have to go. And, one day, so will you.”

And she is right. About everything. When he meets back with the Avengers, there is no sign of Natasha. And he never even tells them he saw her. He barely speaks.

Just like she said. He let her go. And one day, when he was tired of it all, he would join her at the end of the world.

Because he loved her.


End file.
